NEW YORK - In response to “crisis” numbers of mortgage foreclosures in New York state, the court system is creating a program to reduce the time, expense and potential losses involved in the process, the state's chief judge said Wednesday.

Judge Judith S. Kaye said that since January 2005, foreclosure filings have increased 150 percent statewide from 15,599 to 38,807 and are likely to rise at least another 40 percent in 2008. She said 90 percent of filings end with people losing their homes.

“New Yorkers are losing their homes in record numbers,” the chief judge said, describing how some neighborhoods have been ravaged by the wave of foreclosures. “Like so many other problems in our society, the courts end up dealing with the fallout.”